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Department of Winds & Percussion

Collaboration is at the heart of the Department of Winds & Percussion. The acclaimed faculty’s exceptional dedication and personal approach to each student creates a fully-integrated environment where students thrive and performance opportunities abound. Students can participate in ensembles across a variety of genres, and create new and boundless collaborations throughout both the School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) as well as the greater University. Whether interested in a traditional career trajectory, or forging new creative paths, students receive a dynamic education, assuring them of the intensive training they need to foster artistic growth and excellence, and the support and resources to follow their muse.

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Faculty

At Michigan, private study goes beyond a weekly appointment. Professors are accessible and involved mentors, deeply committed to their students’ growth as individuals as well as musicians. The faculty’s range of experience creates an incomparable in-house resource, while their commitment to teaching provides students with the foundation and real-world guidance needed to flourish in today’s musical landscape.


Daniel Gilbert

Chair of Winds and Percussion and Professor of Music
Clarinet

David Jackson

Professor of Music
Brass Chamber Music Coordinator, Trombone

Doug Perkins

Associate Professor of Music, Director of Percussion
Percussion

Studios

Across all disciplines, students perform and study with their peers in studio classes and perform for the public in solo student recitals and studio recitals.

bassoonplayer

Bassoon Studio

quartet

Oboe Studio

trombone player

Trombone Studio

flute porter teaching

Flute Studio

WIPD percussion xylophone instrument

Percussion Studio

euphonium tuba brass ensemble WIPD winds

Tuba & Euphonium Studio

Two French Horn players perform in an ensemble.

Horn Studio

teaching saxophone WIPD winds Timothy McAllister

Saxophone Studio

Performance Opportunities

From large ensembles in celebrated concert halls to chamber groups in intimate recital spaces, performance opportunities across all disciplines abound, with nearly 900 student performances each academic year. Whether your focus is on early, classical, or contemporary music, whether your passion is for jazz, electronic, or world music, there is an ensemble—or in many cases, multiple ensembles—to suit your interests.

smtd performance opportunities
Bands

Bands & Wind Ensembles

With several large ensembles to choose from, wind and percussion students can explore a range of opportunities for immersive performance experiences.

Orchestras

Orchestras

SMTD orchestras offer numerous concerts each season, performing notable works in the symphonic repertoire as well as abundant newly commissioned works.

Chamber Music

Chamber Music

The thriving chamber music scene at SMTD offers students nearly limitless options to perform, innovate, and collaborate in small, self-driven, and diverse ensembles.

Early Music Ensembles

Early Music Ensembles

Students interested in historically oriented performance have opportunities to explore music from across the centuries, performed on authentic period instruments and high-quality replicas.

Solo & Studio Recitals

Solo & Studio Recitals

Across all disciplines, students perform and study with their peers in studio classes and perform for the public in solo student recitals and studio recitals.

Jazz Ensembles

Jazz Ensembles

With large and small jazz ensembles exploring a range of styles, SMTD offers abundant opportunities for students – music majors and non-majors alike – to perform.

Our Stories

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Alumni Notes

More Alumni Notes
Francis Novak (BM ’03, clarinet) performed on the award-winning album That Star in the Picture. Novak also recently earned his doctorate in psychoanalytic studies degree from the Parkmore Institute (South Africa) and has published works in the journals Psychoanalytic Perspectives and Psychoanalytic Inquiry. Novak has joined the faculty of the Institute for Expressive Analysis in New York City. (3/2024)
Nathan Platte (BM ’04, trombone; PhD ’10, musicology) is associate professor of musicology and cinematic arts at the University of Iowa. He received a 2023 Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism (ASCAP Foundation) for his article exploring the repurposing of Soviet music in an anti-Communist film, published in the U-M open-access journal Music & Politics.
Josh Graham (MM ’13, percussion) serves as full-time instructor of percussion at the University of Northern Iowa. In 2023, he premiered works at the DiMenna Center and in the Princeton Sound Kitchen Series with his trio F-PLUS, and he premiered two new solo marimba pieces based on works of literature.

Show Your Support

Any gift to SMTD helps launch the next generation of artists, scholars, educators, and entrepreneurs who challenge and inspire the world.

You can support the Department of Winds & Percussion with a contribution to the following funds:

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